New England Revolution aim for their own big-name player

FOXBORO, Mass. - The Rev faithful of course are now yearning to see a big new face join New England and add similar excitement here.

By Mike Biglin

Revolution fans have watched the massive hoopla surrounding the arrival of David Beckham in Los Angeles, seen how the additions of Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna have turned around the fortunes of the New York Red Bulls, and the excitement that is brewing in Chicago with Cuauhtemoc Blanco donning a Fire jersey.

The Rev faithful of course are now yearning to see a big new face join New England and add similar excitement here. But so far, Steve Nicol and the Revolution brain trust have failed to bring in any new players from foreign lands.

After yesterday's training session at Payson Park, Nicol revealed that the Revs made "a substantial offer" to an unnamed player, but that player turned down the deal. Nicol would not hint whatsoever as to the identity of such a player - but he did intimate that this target was the one the club had been after for some time.

When asked if the deal is now dead, Nicol felt it wasn't. "We're hopeful that we can start (contract talks) up again," he said.

The Revs have been the most stable franchise, player movement-wise, in Major League Soccer for the past several years - choosing to build through the draft instead of major trades or the transfer market. When asked why there hasn't been many changes in his squad that has lost back-to-back MLS Cup finals, Nicol re-stated lines that he has used for several years.

"Because we haven't been able to get, first of all, who we wanted to get, and we're not just going to take anybody. If we're going to get anybody, we're going to get somebody who's going to help us. We've tried to get a couple of players, and that just hasn't worked out. ... Also, we have a pretty settled squad, and a pretty settled lineup.

"The bottom line is we've tried to bring in players, we haven't been able to do that, but we're not just going to make changes and get people in for the sake of it."

When asked if he was upset about his lack of success in signing a player, Nicol replied, "You just don't let it frustrate you; you just get on with it. We're not going to sit and worry about what we haven't got. We'd rather concentrate on what we have got, and utilize that for what's best for the team. We don't waste time crying over what we can't get."

What he's got is a team that has the fewest losses and the most prolific offense (1.81 goals per game) in MLS, and one that's tied for first place in the Eastern Conference with New York at 27 points. The Revolution fly to Utah today to face Real Salt Lake tomorrow night (Fox Soccer Channel, 9:30 p.m.).

What he also has is a near fully fit team. Only backup keeper Doug Warren, still battling post concussion symptoms, sat out team drills yesterday.

Notes

The Revs will be training at Payson Park - the old Wrentham State School field - while the Patriots hold training camp at Gillette Stadium. ...

Tomorrow night's match begins the busiest stretch of the Revs' season, as they play eight games in five weeks. Next week, they'll have two big Eastern Conference showdowns at home, with Kansas City on ESPN2 Soccer Thursday, then D.C. United coming to Gillette on Sunday. A week from Wednesday, on Aug. 8, the Revs host the Harrisburg City Islanders at Gillette in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Four days later, Beckham and the Galaxy invade Gillette.

Road games at Colorado (Aug. 16) and Kansas City (Aug. 19) are followed by the home date with the Red Bulls on Aug. 25 to close out the brutal stretch. The Revs will have Labor Day weekend off.